Background:

“I've always tried to mix up my roles as much as I can. To a large degree that comes from my father, who was a wonderful actor, but he got typecast by his TV show “Sea Hunt.” So, whenever I get a chance to go from the Dude to the Pres that's a big plus for me. I enjoy that.” Jeff Bridges

American actor, producer and singer Jeff Bridges, the son of late “Sea Hunt” star Lloyd Bridges and brother of actor/director Beau Bridges, won an Academy Award for his starring role as an alcoholic country musician in “Crazy Heart” (2010), where he also took home a Golden Globe Award, an Independent Spirit Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, among other honors, for his performance. The former child performer has received Oscar nominations for his performances in “The Last Picture Show” (1971), “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot” (1974), “Starman” (1984), “The Contender” (2000) and “True Grit” (2010). Bridges is also known for his roles in other films like “Against All Odds” (1984), “The Fisher King” (1991), “American Heart” (1992), “Fearless” (1993), “The Big Lebowski” (1998), “Seabiscuit” (2003), “The Door in the Floor” (2004) and “Iron Man” (2008). On the small screen, Bridges was nominated for an Emmy Awards for playing Jon Katz in the HBO film “A Dog Year” (2009).

Bridges co-founded a non-profit organization named End Hunger Network. Originally focusing on world hunger, the organization, which had raised about $4 million for community food banks through 1999, has now shifted its center to America. He is also known for his liberal political views. Bridges has been married to wife Susan Bridges since 1977. They have three daughters.


The Dude

Childhood and Family:

In Los Angeles, California, Jeffrey Leon Bridges, who would later be famous as Jeff Bridges, was born on December 4, 1949, to showbiz parents, actor Lloyd Bridges (born in 1913, died in 1998) and actress and writer Dorothy Dean Bridges (born September 19, 1915, died February 16, 2009). He has two older brothers, Garrett Myles Bridges (born in June 1948; died of sudden infant death syndrome in August that same year) and Beau Bridges (born December 9, 1941), who is also an actor, and a younger sister named Lucinda Bridges (born in 1953).

Growing up watching his father working in front of the cameras, Jeffrey developed an interest for the performing since he was a child. At age four months old, he appeared in the movie “The Company She Keeps.”  Along with his brother Beau, young Jeff appeared in their father's syndicated TV series, “Sea Hunt” (1958-1960). He graduated from University High School (Los Angeles, California) in 1967. He next moved to New York City, where he trained at the Herbert Berghof Studio. He joined the United States Coast Guard Reserve when he was 18 years old. He quit the army after an eight year of service.

While working on “Rancho Deluxe” (1975), Jeff met Susan Geston, who was working as a maid on the ranch where the film was made. The couple married two years later on June 5, 1977. They have three daughters together: Isabelle Annie Bridges (born August 6, 1981), Jessica Lily Bridges (born June 14, 1983) and Haley Roselouise Bridges (born October 17, 1985). Jeff Bridges' nickname is The Dude.    


True Grit

Career:

Jeff Bridges started his film career when he was a young child thanks to his father who brought the baby Bridges in front of the film cameras for the 1951 movie “The Company She Keeps,” where he appeared as the infant in Jane Greer's arms. Along with his brother Beau, Bridges appeared in several episodes of the senior Bridges' series “Sea Hunt” during 1958 -1960 and “The Lloyd Bridges Show” around 1962-1963. In 1964, Bridges toured New England with his father in a stock company production of “Anniversary Waltz.” Five years later, he was cast as the young embodiment of his father's character in the NBC TV movie “Silent Night, Lonely Night.” The same year, Bridges also performed his own song, “Lost in Space,” on the soundtrack for the film “John and Mary.”    

Bridges' first substantial came in 1970 when he was cast as a white student bused to a black school named Doug in “Halls of Anger,” a drama film directed by Paul Bogart. Among his co-stars in the film were Calvin Lockhart and Janet MacLachlan. The same year, he played the role of Nero Finnegan in the indie film “The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go,” which was written and directed by Burgess Meredith. Bridges triumphantly returned in the following year with the Peter Bogdanovich directed drama “The Last Picture Show,” where he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of Texas roughneck Duane Jackson. He subsequently emerged as a flourishing leading man in Hollywood scene.   

His raising status was further verified in the subsequent years with a string of excellent projects under his belt, including John Huston’s “Fat City” (1972), Robert Benton's directorial debut, “Bad Company” (1972), “The Last American Hero” (1973) and John Frankenheimer's film adaptation of Eugene O Neill s play, “The Iceman Cometh” (1973). In 1974, Bridges solidified his reputation as an acclaimed fledgling actor with his second Academy Award nominating scene stealing turn as Lightfoot in Michael Cimino’s superior caper film “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot”, opposite Clint Eastwood, George Kennedy and Geoffrey Lewis. In 1976, he began a collaboration with actress Sally Field in Bob Rafelson's “Stay Hungry.”  

Predicted as the next big superstar, Bridges, however, had to deal with a series of box office disappointments with the 1976 remake of “King Kong” (opposite Jessica Lange and Charles Grodin), “Somebody Killed Her Husband” (1978), “Winter Kills” and “The American Success Company” (1979, both directed by William Richert), “Heaven’s Gate” (1980), “Cutter’s Way” (1981, played the drifting friend of John Heard), “Kiss Me Goodbye” (1982, reunited with Sally Field) and “Tron” (1982, played a video game programmer named Kevin Flynn). The boyishly charming lead bounced back in 1984 with two high profile pictures, “ Against All Odds,” a remake of “Out of the Past,” and John Carpenter’s “Starman.” In the first film, Bridges portrayed professional football player Terry Brogan, while the latter saw him play the title role of the Earth-bound alien. For his work on “Starman,” the actor won a Saturn for Best Actor and was nominated for both the Academy Award and Golden Globe Awards in the category of Best Actor.

In 1985, Bridges starred as an affluent publishing tycoon accused of murdering his wife in the Richard Marquand directed thriller “Jagged Edge” (1985), which also starred Glenn Close, Robert Loggia and Peter Coyote. The film was a commercial success. The actor went to work in such films as Hal Ashby's “8 Million Ways to Die” (1986, portrayed an alcoholic Los Angeles narcotics cop named Matt Scudder), Sidney Lumet's “The Morning After” (1986, played an ex-policeman), Robert Benton's “Nadine” (1987, opposite Kim Basinger), Francis Ford Coppola's “Tucker: The Man and His Dream” (1988, also starred his father Lloyd Bridges), Alan J. Pakula's “See You in the Morning” (1989, played a psychiatrist) and Steve Kloves' “The Fabulous Baker Boys” (1989, starred with brother Beau and Michelle Pfeiffer).

After reprising the role of Duane Jackson in the poorly received “Texasville,”  which was the sequel to the 1971 hit “The Last Picture Show,” Bridges delivered a fine performance as a radio shock-jock who looks for salvation by helping a homeless man (played by Robin Williams) whose life he unwittingly shattered in Terry Gilliam's critically successful, “The Fisher King” (1991), for which he received a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical and a Saturn nomination for Best Actor. He took home an  Independent Spirit Award for his starring turn as an ex-convict attempting to do right by his son in the Martin Bell directed indie “American Heart” (1992), in which he also made his debut as a producer.

Following his Saturn nominated turn as Barney Cousins in the poorly received remake  “The Vanishing” (1993), opposite Kiefer Sutherland and Nancy Travis, Bridges had one of his best performances of his career, as plane-crash survivor Max Klein in Peter Weir's “Fearless” (1993), from which he banned a Chicago Film Critics Association nomination. He reunited with his father for Stephen Hopkins' “Blown Away” (1994), which also starred Tommy Lee Jones, played the title role in the Walter Hill western movie  “Wild Bill” (1995), starred as Christopher “Skipper” Sheldon in the box office bomb “White Squall” (1996), directed by Ridley Scott, and worked with  Barbra Streisand (who also directed) in “The Mirror Has Two Faces” (1996). In 1996, he executive produced and acted in the television movie “Hidden in America” (Showtime), which starred his brother Beau.

In 1998, Bridges resurfaced on the big screen when he was cast in the starring role of a single, unemployed slacker living in Venice, California, who enjoys marijuana, White Russians, and bowling in the Coen Brothers “The Big Lebowski” and he was nominated for a Golden Satellite Award in the category of Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical for his role. He rounded out the decade by portraying tightly wound, slightly paranoid history professor in the Mark Pellington thriller “Arlington Road” (1999), a successful Hollywood screenwriter who introduces his friend (played by Albert Brooks) to “The Muse” (1999), directed by Brooks, and a character named Lyle Carter in the film adaptation of Sam Shepard's play, “Simpatico” (1999), opposite Nick Nolte, Sharon Stone, Catherine Keener and Albert Finney. 1999 also saw Bridges launch his first solo album, “ Be Here Soon.”

Entering the new millennium, Bridges proved he was still on the track with his acclaimed portrayal of the apparently effortless but actually cannily manipulative US President Jackson Evans in  Rod Lurie’s political thriller, “The Contender” (2000), which also starred Gary Oldman, Joan Allen and Christian Slater. For his outstanding efforts, he won the Broadcast Film Critics Association Alan J. Pakula Award and was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar (his fourth Oscar nomination), a Golden Globe Award, a Golden Satellite Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award. Bridges next could be seen in Dominique Forma's “Scenes of the Crime” (2001, with Jon Abrahams and R. Lee Ermey), Iain Softley's “K-Pax” (2001, with Kevin Spacey), Larry Charles' “Masked and Anonymous” (2003), Gary Ross' “Seabiscuit” (2003), in which his portrayal of influential millionaire Charles S. Howard earned him a Satellite  nomination for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture and a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, John Irving's “The Door in the Floor” (2004), where he received an Independent Spirit nomination for Best Male Lead for his role as children’s book author Ted Cole, Michael Traeger's indie comedy, “The Amateurs” (2005) and Terry Gilliam's adaptation of Mitch Cullin's novel, “Tideland” (2005), where he played Jeliza-Rose's father.   

Following a starring role in the comedy/drama film “Stick It” (2006), Bridges provided the voice of a ruined old surfer named Big Z in the animated movie “Surf's Up” (2007), was cast as the antagonist, Obadiah Stane, in the superhero film “Iron Man” (2008), for which he was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor and a Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Villain, joined the ensemble of the British comedy film “How to Lose Friends & Alienate People” (2008), co-starred with Justin Timberlake, Kate Mara and Mary Steenburgen in Michael Meredith's comedy/drama, “The Open Road” (2009) and was cast along with George Clooney in “The Men Who Stare At Goats” (2009).  

In 2009, Bridges executive produced and starred in the Scott Cooper adaptation of Thomas Cobb's 1987 novel, “Crazy Heart.” Playing an alcoholic singer/songwriter who was once a country music star, the actor gained extensive praise from critics, and he was handed the Best Actor Academy Award. The role also brought him a Golden Globe Award, an Independent Spirit Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Broadcast Film Critics Association Critics Choice Award, Best Actor, BAFTA's Britannia Award, a Prism Award, a Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, a BAFTA nomination, a Chicago Film Critics Association nomination, a Houston Film Critics Society nomination, a London Film Critics Circle nomination, an Online Film Critics Society nomination, a Satellite nomination and a St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association nomination. “Crazy Heart” grossed over $47 million against a budget of $7 million. The same year, Bridges also gave a memorable turn as a man having a midlife crisis in the HBO film “A Dog Year,” which was based on the memoir by Jon Katz. He was nominated for a 2010 Emmy in the category of Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for his effort.

After reprising his Kevin Flynn role in the sequel “TRON: Legacy” (2010), where he won a Saturn Award for his performance, Bridges again gained wide acclaim thanks to his portrayal of Marshal Reuben J. Rooster Cogburn in the Coen brothers Western movie, “True Grit” (2010), for which he received an Academy nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role. The role also brought him a Western Heritage Bronze Wrangler Award for Outstanding Theatrical Motion as well as the Best Actor nominations at the BAFTA Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards, Central Ohio Film Critics Association Awards, Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, Las Vegas Film Critics Society Sierra Awards, London Critics Circle Film ALFS Awards, Online Film Critics Society Awards, Phoenix Film Critics Society PFCS Awards and Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards.

On August 16, 2011, Bridges released a self titled studio album through Blue Note Records. The album reached No. 25, No. 10, No. 2 and No. 5 on the Billboard 200, the Top Country Albums, the Top  Folk Albums and the Top Rock Albums chart, respectively. He also released a single called “What a Little Bit of Love Can Do.”

Recently, in 2012, Bridges has completed a starring role opposite Andy Garcia and Anjelica Huston in the upcoming film “Pablo.”  Additionally, he is set to portray Roy Pulsipher in the action/comedy film “R.I.P.D.” (2013), opposite Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Bacon, and Master Gregory in the adventure/family film “The Seventh Son” (2013), with Julianne Moore.        

      
Awards:

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA: Saturn Award, Best Actor, “TRON: Legacy,” 2011
Western Heritage : Bronze Wrangler, Outstanding Theatrical Motion Picture, “True Grit,” 2011
Oscar: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, “Crazy Heart,” 2010
Broadcast Film Critics Association: Critics Choice Award, Best Actor, “Crazy Heart,” 2010
BAFTA: Britannia Award, Excellence in Film, 2010
Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, “Crazy Heart,” 2010
Independent Spirit: Best Male Lead, “Crazy Heart,” 2010
Palm Springs International Film Festival: Desert Palm Achievement Award, “Crazy Heart,” 2010
Prism: Performance in a Feature Film, “Crazy Heart,” 2010
Screen Actors Guild : Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role, “Crazy Heart,” 2010
Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA): Best Actor, “Crazy Heart,” 2009
National Board of Review: Career Achievement Award, 2004
San Sebastián International Film Festival: Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award, 2004
Santa Barbara International Film Festival: Modern Master Award, 2003
Broadcast Film Critics Association: Alan J. Pakula Award, “The Contender”, 2001
Boston Film Festival: Film Excellence Award, 2000
Independent Spirit: Best Actor, “American Heart,” 1994
NATO: Male Star of the Year, presented by the National Association of Theater Owners, 1990
ShoWest Convention: ShoWest Award, Male Star of the Year, 1990
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA: Saturn Award, Best Actor, “Starman,” 1985
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